


To Keep The Darkness At Bay

by MrsAlwaysWrite



Series: Currahee! [10]
Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27750994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsAlwaysWrite/pseuds/MrsAlwaysWrite
Summary: The bedroom door creaked as it opened. Faint moonlight shown through the window to push back the darkness. Chuck was loudly snoring on one of the two top bunks. Someone else shuffled at the squeaking of the door but otherwise there was no other movement.My feet knew the path to follow, having sought his comfort many times in the middle of the night when the nightmares were too much. When I was not strong enough. When the terror shackled me to my nightmare. I closed the door and in three steps knelt in front of the bottom bunk on the right."Joe…" I hated how his name came out as a whimper.
Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/Reader, Joseph Liebgott/You
Series: Currahee! [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018627
Kudos: 8





	To Keep The Darkness At Bay

_Hands grabbed me, yanking me back into the snowy trench. Their rough voices grated against my ears. I swung and struggled, fought with every fiber of my being. With all the strength I could give. There were two of them though, both bigger and stronger than me. The truth was inevitable. Yet I refused to comply. One elbowed me in the gut, knocking the frozen breath from my lungs._ _A filthy hand covered my mouth, trembling either from the cold or adrenaline. The other hand pulled me back against a solid chest, trapping me there. The sharp edge of a knife against my throat stilled my thrashing. How had it all come to this? It was then my attacker recognized I was not a **male** soldier. The hand that had covered my mouth traveled downward. Touching. A grating chuckle next to my ear. I flinched at the sound. I had survived so much. Was this my doom? A shot rang out. Warm, sticky liquid splattered across my face and hair. The sudden, heavy weight dragged me down into the dark trench. Down into the snow. Down into terror. Down into oblivion. Drowning me. Escape, no longer an option._

I gasped as my eyes shot open, heart racing in my chest. The bunk squeaked underneath as I rolled onto my side and placed my feet on the cold, hard floor. The others in the room were still sleeping soundly; which meant I had not started crying out in my sleep yet. Small mercies. 

Head in my hands, I could feel my body trembling, trying furiously to work off the terror the nightmare instilled in me. No matter how many times my mind forced me to relive that moment, it still caused the same physical reactions. It still brought the same level of terror. Even though I knew it was not real. For that moment, it was. The coarseness of the Nazi coats rubbing against me. The bone-deep cold I could never escape. The chilling, painful feeling of being overpowered and unable to stop it. The warmth from blood saturating my clothes and soul. 

That damn nightmare. Except it was also a memory. We were in the Bois Jacques, still getting shelled almost daily by the Nazis. I had gone out with Spina and Heffron to try and find some medical supplies. It had been nice to get out and stretch our limbs in the sunshine. What we did not expect was to stumble upon some Nazis hiding in their own foxholes. Heffron fell in but was able to get out quickly and run from the bullets. 

I was not so lucky.

In trying to flee, I stumbled upon a different foxhole and fell in. I landed on top of a Nazi and his foxhole buddy, who were quick to overpower me as if they had been lying in wait. 

It was a miracle I escaped with only a knife wound stretching from my shoulder to my collarbone when one tried to slit my throat. Heffron shot one of the Nazis while I managed to stab the other one. 

I survived. 

But the nightmares liked to remind me how close I came to being either dead or taken as a POW. 

The nightmare fresh in my mind, haunting me, imaginary hands grabbing me, the cold biting me, fear eating away at me. I jumped to my feet, stumbling out of the room I shared with others in my platoon. One destination in mind. Only one way to keep the nightmare at bay. Only one way to fight the memory. 

The hardwood floor echoed my footfalls. Darkness shrouded the hallway but I knew the path with my eyes closed by now. So many times, having taken this route.

_Hands digging bruises into my skin. A cold, dirty hand trying to cover my mouth to keep me from screaming for help. A gunshot and something warm and sticky splattered all over my face. Snatching the knife used to threaten me and turning it on its master. For a few minutes, the warmth of someone's lifeblood chased away the permanent chill from the forest._

The bedroom door creaked as it opened. Faint moonlight shown through the window to push back the darkness. Chuck was loudly snoring on one of the two top bunks. Someone else shuffled at the squeaking of the door but otherwise there was no other movement. 

My feet knew the path to follow, having sought his comfort many times in the middle of the night when the nightmares were too much. When I was not strong enough. When the terror shackled me to my nightmare. I closed the door and in three steps knelt in front of the bottom bunk on the right. 

"Joe…" I hated how his name came out as a whimper. The fear eating away at me stole my usual strength. 

Not even opening his eyes or saying a word, he lifted the edge of the blanket. As if he knew I was coming. 

Immediately, I crawled in next to him on the small twin-size bed. My back pressed to his chest, I tucked myself against him and under the covers. Once settled, he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer, his face pressed against the back of my head. 

"I got ya." He murmured, voice rough from sleep. 

"I know."

He pressed a quick kiss to the back of my neck. "Go to sleep."

Only in the comfort of his arms, could I fall back asleep. Somehow being enveloped in his warmth, the nightmares stayed away. I told him that once and he responded that if the nightmares tried to latch onto me while with him, he would just fight them off since he had a mean right hook. 

In the morning, no one ever commented about finding me in Liebgott's bed. If it was due to the dark circles under my eyes or the way I was extra jumpy when I tried to fight the nightmares on my own, I never asked. They never questioned it or asked about my nightmares. One person tried to tease me once about it, but with the death glare from both Liebgott and Malarkey, they never brought it up again.

Malarkey always got up first. He would start the coffee and the smell slowly saturated the room, waking everyone up pleasantly. 

A tender kiss on the back of my neck woke me up. A gentle squeeze around my waist brought me fully into awareness. As quietly as possible, I rolled over to face Liebgott, his arm still around me. Holding me close. Keeping me safe. 

"You alright?" He whispered, his breath gliding over my lips due to our close proximity. 

I nodded. Using a single finger, I pushed back some of the hair falling over his face. 

"The usual?"

"Yeah." I sighed out, my gaze dropping to his chest. I know he never blamed me for the nightmares, none of the guys did. I knew some of them suffered their own. Once I told Joe about my nightmare, what happened in it. What the memory entailed. Afterwards he held me so tight, I felt like he was trying to absorb me into his body through physical contact. I loved it. I had shoved my face into his chest and let him hold me, as if I was a child, as he softly whispered words of comfort into my ear. Since then he told me I could come to him whenever, no matter the time and he would always be there for me.

He gripped my hand in his, giving a gentle squeeze. "S'alright. I got you, love." 

I blushed at the term of endearment. He only ever used it when it was just us. "Do you?"

"Yeah, I do." He pressed his forehead to mine, placing my hand against his steadily, beating heart. "Day or night. I'll always fight for you. If its nightmares or fucking Sobel or Nazis. I got you."

And I believed him. With all of my heart. 


End file.
